Women Rock Hueco
Rands and Murphy tick Fred Nicole's Sarah (V12), more female firepower on display

March and April saw more women in Hueco Tanks pulling double-digit problems than any previous season. Lisa Rands, Claire Murphy, Darlene Pidgeon and Ana Burgos convened at the Texas bouldering Mecca; all scored ticks in the V10 to V12 range.

Rands traveled to Hueco with her boyfriend, Wills Young, in late February. "At first, the fricking weather was too hot," says Young. "Lisa kept falling from the top of Woman With a Hueco in Her Head (V10, but seldom repeated) and we seriously contemplated leaving." Despite feeling down, Rands and Young stuck out the hot spell and were rewarded with a week of cool weather at the end of March.

Rands made the most of the conditions by sending two V12 problems in the space of a weekend. Chablanke features explosive moves from tiny holds, while Sarah, also on North Mountain, begins under a low roof and finishes with precarious moves on a slab. Rands also made short work of Swiss Crisp Mix (V10), Dirty Martini (V9) and Dragonfly sit-start (V9) during the good weather, and wrapped things up by completing Woman With a Hueco in Her Head, the ultra-thin problem on the Mushroom Boulder that had tormented her earlier.

Murphy, a British citizen whose U.S. green card identifies her as a "professional climber," sent Sarah a few days before Rands. "I was having trouble with the first move until I took a 'power spot' from a friend. With the right beta I was able to pull the roof on my first go," says Murphy. In April, Murphy also snagged the first female ascent of Full Service, a steep power-endurance problem that is considered the standard for V10 at Hueco.

Murphy and Rands are currently the only women in North America to have climbed V12, though some, including Young, have questioned whether Nicole's grading of Sarah will hold. "Wills climbed it very fast and thought it was V11," says Murphy, adding "But other strong guys have struggled on it -- I guess time will tell what the right grade is."

Darlene Pidgeon, of British Columbia, and Ana Burgos, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, each attained multiple double-digit sends this spring as well. Pidgeon, who became the first Canadian woman to tick V10 when she did Zero Zero at Squamish last year, climbed the 20-foot roof on Martini Left (V10) as well as Swiss Crisp Mix (V10) and Dirty Martini (V9/10). Burgos succeeded on Martini Left, Dirty Martini and a slew of V9s.